The Passage Of Time Has Resulted On National And International Policy

The author, John H. Aldrich, argues that the contemporary political party are not in decline. John H. Aldrich want us to believe that contemporary political party are not in a decline but, instead in transformation. John H. Aldrich give cases for both the importance of political parties and for weak and weakening parties.

A Democratic Deficit in the EU The question over the legitimacy of the EU has been a nearly continuous debate and many commentators appear to agree that the EU suffers from a severe ‘democratic deficit’. There are many reasons why this perception is so widespread. As a multinational body it lacks the grounding in common history and culture upon which most individual polities can draw.

It could be argued, however, that the two party system which was once in place is declining, meaning more parties have a realistic chance to achieve role as government. In the last thirty years the support for the Conservative and Labour parties has been gradually decreasing, leaving them with only 67% of the vote at the 2005 general election, which was the smallest percentage they’d gained since 1918. This is an example of partisan dealignment because the working class started to transfer their party support to Conservative instead of Labour. The Liberal Democrats support was significantly increasing, leaving them with 22% of the vote in the 2005 election as well as 62 seats. Their seat numbers had been increasing since 1974 when they only had 14 seats in parliament, suggesting a change in the dominance of only two parties. Today, the Liberal Democrats, who haven’t been considered a main party since, are currently the weaker part of a coalition government, with Labour in opposition. This shows a clear end to the two party system, with three parties in significant places of power.

In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, summarize each of the three parties’

Whereas the Republican platform may differ from year to year based on whoever is nominated for president, the Green Party, say, has a rather grounded and unchanging platform, independent of who is the head of the party at a particular time. Put in these terms, it is now unsurprising that many Americans, instead of being forced into either the “Republican” or “Democrat” box, feel that, even if the chance of their party winning the election is slim to none, their personal and political beliefs are better represented by a third party. It truly is unfortunate that third parties cannot get more attention, because ideological specialization in government could lead to a much more stable and “knowable” political scene in the United

Since 1787, there has been constant competition for promoting political ideals in this nation. These groups are known as Political Parties. From the big political parties to the small parties, they all have a part in history. The use of these political parties is traced from conception up until the civil war.

As society went through these changes brought about by economic and technological advances, people’s perceptions of their world began to change. They divided themselves along their visions for the future and found that the original party system did not exactly conform to their ideas because it was based in a time different from their own. While some of their concerns, such as

     A political party is an organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their main functions are similar: to supply personnel for government positions; to organize these personnel around the formation and implementation of public policy; and to serve in a mediating role between individuals and their government. Political parties are as old as organized political systems. Two parties in particular, the Populist Party and the Progressive Party are alike in many ways, from their platforms to their general issues. In general, however, the structure and behavior of

A voter can be defined as an individual who votes, or has the right to vote, in elections. Voting behaviour is explained using the concepts of expressive voting and strategic voting. A rational voter would act more strategically, that is, the voter would vote to produce an election outcome which is as close as possible to his or her own policy preferences, rather than voting on the basis of party attachment, ideology, or social group membership (expressive voting). Strategic voting has become more important than voting on the basis of political cleavages (expressive voting), so voters have become more rational in their approach, however there is always an element of expressiveness in their behaviour. Political parties were initially formed to represent the interests of particular groups in society however, as these parties became more universal in the appeal of their policy programmes, voting behaviour shifted from expressive to strategic. This essay explores the reasons behind the declining importance of political cleavages, and the rise of strategic voting.

The United States has maintained its two party system for some time, but the major parties have not always been so clearly separated. In the early and mid-twentieth century, polarization was actually declining, as there was much ideological overlap between the members of the two parties (Kuo). Many people, such as conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans, rested in the ideological middle. Additionally, each party represented a coalition of diverse interests. At

The second rule that Sartori created was, “A party qualifies for relevance whenever its existence, or appearance, affects the tactics of party competition and particularly when it alters the direction of the competition- by determining a switch from centripetal to centrifugal competition either leftward, rightward, or in both directions- of the governing-oriented parties” (1983, p.19). This rule further highlights the importance of minor party preferences, and the role they have in the Australian system.

The party platforms between democrats and republicans has always caused contention among them. Their values and beliefs is what sets them apart. Many argue that one party goes either too far to the left or too far to the right with viewpoints of governing. Platforms are very important when it comes to governing a country. Depending on what a candidate belief system the country will reap destruction or prosperity as result of whoever in charge.

The European Union (EU) is fundamentally democratic and is evident through its institutions, however, the current democratic electoral structure is of great concern. The EU is a new type of political system, often referred to as a sui generis, implying its uniqueness as there exists and a non comparable political body. The EU can neither regarded as a ‘state’ nor as an ‘international institution’ as it combines supranational as well as intergovernmental characteristics (Hix, 1999, p7). In this regard it has developed its own understandings of what democracy is. It is evident that the development of and spread of democracy is a central concept and foundation to all politics within the EU, and remains focuses on makings its governing

The multigovernmental nature of the European Union and the national governments of its member states also helps to decrease the democratic deficit, not only on a supranational level, but on a national level as well (Eising 2011). Because there is a division of powers and sovereignty between these two levels of governance, citizens have the capacity, through interest group activity, to represent their interests to two different legislative bodies that could pursue legislation in their favour (Kohler-Koch 1997; Eising 2011). Similarly, due to the relatively nascent state of European Union interest group activity, many groups with similar interests are combining and coordinating efforts in order to have a bigger influence over policy decisions (Greenwood 2003, Eising 2011). Because of this unique phenomenon, smaller groups may work in tandem with

Political parties are critical structures in the modern society and universal phenomena in most democracies. In fact, they form major objects of intensive study as they are usually the centre of political and social power. They engage in most activities that are of significant consequence in the lives of citizens and link the common populace to the government. Therefore, it is important to understand political parties fully from every perspective of political systems so obtain their real importance in democracies. A political party is basically a group of citizens who converge as voters, activists, electoral candidates and office holders with a common party label and seek to elect party members into public offices. While modern political